GUEST COMMENTARY

Editor’s note:  All five candidates vying for two seats on the Vero Beach City Council were invited to submit guest commentary and to respond to a list of questions submitted by InsideVero.com.  Incumbents, Mayor Richard Winger, Councilwoman Amelia Graves and challenger Brian Heady, have accepted our invitation to submit guest commentary and to respond to questions.  Guest commentary from the candidates will be posted as it is received.  The candidate Q&A will be posted early next week. (Challengers Harry Howle and Laura Moss were also invited to participate, but declined to respond to multiple invitations.)

AMELIA GRAVES

My first term as a City Council member has been an incredible learning experience. Before my first term I thought I had an appreciation for what our City does, all we offer, and how it works – it truly is and incredible undertaking of which I underestimated.

I admit I am truly humbled, not just by our tremendous staff, but by our citizens. I’ve been consistently impressed by the generosity and the dedication of our citizens. Some of the greatest ideas have come not from within, but from outside our City Chambers. I’m proud of the public-private partnerships that we’ve made. Businesses and non-profit organizations such as Jordan Sprinkler Systems, GoPlayVero, and the Vero Beach Dog Park have stepped up and done amazing things, with cooperation from the City, to continue to improve Vero Beach.

It was an honor to have assisted in getting Crestlawn Cemetery in our City charter and helping protect our parks and lands. As a community of neighborhoods we have worked to keep short term rentals out of the City and protect our quality of life. Moving code enforcement into the Police Department and keeping our Police Department strong with a quick response time goes even further to keeping our neighborhoods safe.

It is such an exciting time to be living in Vero. The ingenuity of the different departments in our City has been inspiring. From Vero’s Water and Sewer Director working to implement the Step-system to transition septic tanks off the lagoon to our Airport getting ready to begin commercial flights soon with Elite Airways going into Newark. I have tremendous pride in our product which is our people. The City delivers top notch service because we have an exemplary and dedicated staff.

From the inner workings of the City marina to the maintenance schedule in parks and recreation, there are a lot of moving parts that make Vero Beach such a wonderful place to live. It has been a great joy to help facilitate citizens’ ideas and I have learned that there are dozens of volunteers that have donated their time and insight to the many commissions in the City to maintain the City we love and call home.

Our downtown area has been revitalized with restaurants, bars, galleries, shops, and the Edgewood neighborhood will be turning into an arts and cultural village soon. This was not due to any particular Councilmember, this was through the hard work and dedication of the people who live and work in this area – we simply had the pleasure of supporting these initiatives. Tourism is at an all time high and our beaches have never been busier.

I’ve also learned there are real consequences to our choices and being a City Councilmember requires you to make tough decisions, none of which I take lightly. Raising our millage rate recently was part of long range planning to allow our City to grow and it provides services to our residents and visitors that otherwise wouldn’t be available.

Carrying what I have learned into the future – are we perfect? No. But the City of Vero Beach is constantly evolving as our citizens let us know what they need and want and lead the way. I want to continue to represent your passions and ideals and work in service to a City that has given me more than I can ever give back. There is a reason you find generations of families returning to our hometown. On November 3rd we all have a choice, if I can be of service to you once again it would be my honor.